


call my bluff, call you "babe," have my back every day

by theragingstorm



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Domestic, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Marriage, Short & Sweet, is that a thing?, original animal characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 12:51:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21099761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theragingstorm/pseuds/theragingstorm
Summary: Dick and Barbara spend a rare free evening together.





	call my bluff, call you "babe," have my back every day

**Author's Note:**

> Should I be working on college stuff and my ongoing projects? Yes. Did I write this instead? Also yes.
> 
> The post that directly inspired this: https://emmerrr.tumblr.com/post/188454137494 . And, as per usual for me, the title's from Taylor Swift's "It's Nice To Have A Friend."

In Gotham City, Saturday evenings usually weren’t so quiet. Evil didn’t take weekends off, after all, and though the leaves and the air were crispened, the sky silver, the trees golden, and the wind growing as sharp and crackly as burnt sugar, villains and petty criminals still ran amuck, as always. 

But for once, they were exempt from that. 

When the Batman himself told you to rest up, to take it easy after even a relatively minor field injury, in his case, and to break from all the computer work you were doing for everyone else, in hers, it was a rare opportunity. 

One they were most certainly taking advantage of.

Thick rainclouds gathered outside her window, and Barbara snuggled a little further under the bedcovers. The TV at the front of the bedroom flickered with light; the comedy show on-screen was familiar and comforting. It was only eight p.m., but they’d already eaten dinner, showered, and were in their pajamas, and she was curled up into his side, soaking in the warmth. 

Dick took a forkful of his own cake slice, muttering something about how dumb the characters were being. They’d each dipped into the cheesecake he’d brought back from the bakery near his workplace the other day; he knew it was her favorite. Barbara picked up the bottle of Riesling she’d dug out of the liquor cabinet two hours prior, he extended his glass and she topped both of theirs off. 

“Hey, it’s my favorite scene,” she murmured, snuggling in a little closer. Dick wrapped his arm around her shoulders, balancing the plate on his lap. 

“So I should shut up? No commentary?”

“Not if you want to stay in this bed.”

He shrugged, rubbing his hand along her shoulder. She couldn’t feel where her hips and legs were pressed up against his, couldn’t feel the elastic bandage around his sprained ankle, but she could feel his wedding ring against her shoulder even through her pajama top. 

She ate her cake, sipping her wine. Outside, she heard a wind picking up, moaning softly through the sidewalk trees; at the same time, their bed, and the presence of her husband next to her, was wrapping her up in sleepy warmth. 

But a soft whine below them snapped her out of her daze.

She looked over the side of the bed. 

Staring up at them were four pairs of eyes, two brown, two green. Odysseus, her cat, with his long black fur, had his front paws up against her comforter, his plume of a tail swishing gently back and forth. Ariadne, Dick’s dog, black and white with golden-brown highlights around her face and legs, whimpered softly, nosing the sheets in a wordless request for permission. 

(She'd named them both. They were appropriate names, her being Oracle and all.)

“Oh, my handsome prince,” Barbara cooed, setting her wineglass down on the nightstand and leaning over, picking up Odie and setting him on her lap, “Yes, I’m so happy to have you here.”

“Aww, that’s really sweet of you, I feel the same…” Dick trailed off. “You’re talking to the cat, aren’t you.”

She smirked. Odie curled up on her lap and purred. 

Ari, sensing that this was her permission, jumped up on the bed and pawed over to Dick, flopping down and resting her head on his thighs. She sniffed at his cheesecake slice hopefully.

Dick had to hold it up at chest-level so she wouldn’t steal it, scratching her behind the ears with one hand. Odie, for his part, just bathed his paws, uninterested in the cake. 

Barbara ran her hand over her cat’s back. 

“Well, there goes my clever plan to seduce you, what with having company and all.”

“Oh, damn.” Dick’s eyes softened again, his hurt pride from being passed up for a cat swiftly mending. “Foiled by animals.”

“It’s the Legion of Super-Pets all over again.”

"Pity they disbanded. These two would be shoo-ins for membership."

Ari yawned. Odie finished cleaning his paws, curling his tail over his nose. 

She finished her glass around the same time the episode ended, the wine making her feel a little pleasantly fuzzy-headed. The covers were so soft, and even though the windows creaked with the fall wind, having Dick with her was as good as a space heater. He was solid and warm against her; his skin still smelled like bergamot from the shower, from his soap. 

Odie’s eyes closed, and Ari began to snore softly.

But when Barbara reached for the bottle again, only a tiny bit sloshed out, barely enough to coat the bottom of the glass. 

“We’re out,” she announced, setting it back down on the nightstand. 

“Out of cake, too,” Dick added, moving his plate away. “And just as the next episode is starting.”

“You wanna go get some more of both?”

“Wha -- me?” She looked at him. “Why do  _ I _ have to do it?”

Dick gestured expansively.

“Uh, I have a dog lying on top of me?”

She huffed with mild, good-natured exasperation.

“I have a cat lying on top of me. And I can’t walk.”

“I have a sprained ankle.”

“Not the same thing.”

“Bruce told me to rest.”

“He told me too.”

“I’m his son.”

“I’m his best friend’s daughter.”

“Not the same thing,” he echoed, raising an eyebrow playfully. 

Barbara tilted her chin upwards, contemplating.

“Rock-paper-scissors you for it?”

“What? No way. You always win rock-paper-scissors.”

“Yeah, because you always pick paper.”

“No I don’t.”

“Honey. Yes you do.  _ Always _ .”

Dick rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. 

“Well, how are we going to figure out who has to get up, then?”

Barbara pondered. The first few raindrops splashed the windowsill, the wind still sighing, breathing in, breathing out.

“Toss a coin?”

“That works.”

Careful not to disturb Odie, she reached over, picking her purse off the ground from where it lay, right against the wheels of her chair. She fumbled out her wallet, and then a quarter. It clinked softly against her wedding ring.

“Call it.”

“Tails.”

The metal flicked, and landed down on their bedsheets.

Barbara squinted.

“You said ‘heads,’ right?”

“I said _‘_ _ tails _ _,’_ nice try though, friend.” He smirked at her. “Sorry.”

“No you’re not,” she grumbled, setting her purse back down and lifting herself up. Odie awoke at once, giving her a  _ supremely _ offended look before he moved off her lap, crawling over to the end of the bed. As she eased herself into her wheelchair, he wrapped his tail around his paws and continued to glare in her direction; Dick snickered. 

“You see,” she could hear him say to the cat as she rolled out of the bedroom, “you’re  _ not _ the most important man in her life.”

Barbara rolled her eyes, pushing her glasses up her nose. Shivering, missing her duvet and her husband’s warmth, she rolled to the kitchen and fetched another bottle of Riesling and the cake box, with its last two slices. Balancing them both on her lap, she then rolled back to the bedroom at record speed, almost diving out of her wheelchair and back into bed. Dick chuckled.

“Not a word out of you, Richard.”

“Wasn’t gonna say anything.”

“Those were words.”

He snuggled back up against her anyway, managing to not dislodge Ari, while she redistributed the wine and cake. His strong arms wrapped around her, and even after so many years of knowing him, she still couldn’t help but soften. 

Her own arm encircled his waist; she pulled the covers back up over them. Odie cast them another look, like he was reconsidering. The tip of his tail twitched. 

Barbara tilted her head into Dick’s shoulder just as the rain began to patter on her window, the cold air pressing against the glass. He breathed soft and easy, and she felt the warmth enveloping her again.

“How pissed would the others be if we just stayed here all weekend?” she murmured. Obviously, she knew that they’d never  _ actually _ do that. They had jobs. They had countless people who needed them. Besides… 

“Eh, we don’t need to.” Dick nuzzled her hair, dislodging the waves of red locks. “We’re here right now, we’re here at all. After everything. That’s enough for me.”

Barbara swallowed hard.

"Good answer."

Then she brushed her hair out of the way, cupping his face, and moved in for a slow kiss.

He tasted of rich cake and sweet, sharp white wine, and he sighed softly into the kiss. When they pulled apart, some seconds later, the rain was a steady force, and they both settled back into the pillows. Odie finally swallowed his pride, padding back over and curling back into her lap. Ari thumped her tail drowsily.

“Good dog,” she murmured. “Good kitty.”

He meowed softly.

She leaned back into Dick, holding each other, letting him play with her hair, feeling pleasantly full and content with dessert and wine. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” she replied, for once lost in the moment. 

The cold of autumn, the rain, it kept pressing against her home while they stayed under the covers; sirens wailed in the distance, not unusual for Gotham, and she barely noticed. Superheroes they were. Just not for tonight. 

“...So do I really always pick paper?”

“Always, honey.  _ Always. _ ”

“Damn it.”

Their room remained a spot of golden light in the velvety city darkness, and the rain pattered on. Condensation dripped gently down the wind bottle and the television kept flickering, while their pets just sighed, and finally drifted off to sleep. 


End file.
